Computers have become commonplace tools in modern society, and many businesses and residences now have one or more computing devices. In a small business, for example, some employees may each use a desktop computer or laptop computer. Some employees may even use more portable computers such as personal digital assistants or “smart” wireless telephones. Similarly, with a family sharing a residence, each family member may have his or her personal computer, or the family members may share one or more computers. Further, both small businesses and personal residences may include various computing appliances that incorporate or otherwise interact with computers. For example, a home residence may include a refrigerator, a “Voice over Internet Protocol” telephone, a digital music server, a digital camera, or an environmental control system that includes or interacts with a computer.
In order to optimize the use and flexibility of these computing devices, a business or family may link them together to form a small private network. Typically, each of the computing devices is connected to a router through a network adapter. The router then “routes” packets of data to and from each computing device. With this type of small private network, the router can in turn be connected to one or more larger private networks or a public network, such as the Internet. By sending and receiving messages through the router, each networked computing device may then communicate with computing devices outside of the private network. In this arrangement, the router serves as a “gateway” device that provides a gateway to outside of the private network.
While this type of small or “home” network can provide enhanced utility for its member computing devices, even a small network can be very difficult for a non-technical person to set up and maintain. Accordingly, various software developers have created tools to assist novice users in setting up or managing a small network. Conventionally, these tools were embedded in a larger software product, such as an operating system or a utility application. More recently, however, Pure Networks of Seattle, Wash. has developed a dedicated software application tool for managing small networks. This software application tool, available from Pure Networks under the name NETWORK MAGIC, is described in detail in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/634,432, filed Dec. 7, 2004, entitled “Network Management” and naming Steve Bush et al. as inventors, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/297,809, filed on Dec. 7, 2005, entitled “Network Management” and naming Steve Bush et al. as inventors, which applications, along with U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/789,522, filed Apr. 4, 2006, entitled “Network Management,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/916,642, filed on Aug. 10, 2004, entitled “Service Licensing And Maintenance For Networks,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/457,783, filed on Jul. 14, 2006, entitled “Network Device Management,” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/457,763, filed on Jul. 14, 2006, entitled “Network Device Setup Utility,” are incorporated entirely herein by reference.
In a household setting, one or more devices in a network may be available to children ranging from preschoolers to teenagers. Accordingly, a parent may wish to limit the use of one or more of the computing devices in the network. For example, a parent may wish to prevent a very young child from using a networked video game or digital video recorder. Alternately, a parent may desire to prevent an older child from accessing a Web site with sexually explicit content. While a variety of software programs are available that purport to allow a parent to block a child's access to sexually explicit content over the Internet, these programs do not allow a parent to monitor other uses of devices in a household network.